Wash mitten



July 28, 1925.

C. L. MARTENS WASH MITTEN FiledJan.

Patented July 28, 1925.

UNITED STATES CONRAD L. KAB'IENS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

wear: mr'mn.

Application filed January 9, 1924. Serial No. 685,124.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CONRAD L. MAR'I'ENS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Wash Mittens, of whichthe following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in wash mittens.

One object of the invention is the provision of a mitten which may beused as a holder for soap and which will permit positioning of the baror cake of soap behlnd all portions of the wiping surface asdistinguished from mittens having thumb portions which I find providewiping surfaces behind which a bar or cake of soap inside the mittencannot be positioned. Non-soaping of these portions from the interiormakes soaping of said surfaces from the skin necessary with the resultthat in use of the device an unsoaped wiping area is being moved overthe skin with an accompanying wiping off instead of soaping of the skinas desired. In addition to these objections to an unsoaped surfacewiping over the skin with the internally soaped wiping area, free use ofthe thumb and proper controlling of the position of the bar of soapwithin the mitten is impaired.

I am aware that thumbless shoe cleaning devices have been provided, butthese are non-analogous in that the blacking is never applied to thewiping surface from within, as is the soap in my device. Where appliedon the outside as is necessary in such devices, application may asreadily be made to a thumb portion as to the palm or any other portionof the device and there is no bar of soap to be ositioned about theinterior when the devlce is in place on the .hand.

Another object is the provision of a was mitten for use as a wash cloth,which will be soft and non-irritable to the skin and which will at thesame time frictionally engage the skin sufliciently toloosen and removeforeign matter such as dirt, grease, ink or the like.

Another object is the provision of a single mitten which is operableequally as well on either hand.

Another ob'ect is to provide common eans preferably in the form of anelastic wrist band for holding. the mitten snugl h the other half a uponthe hand and for preventing escape of the soap from inside themittenwhen in use therein, the mitten being at the same time convenientlyremovable from the hand and the soap being conveniently removable fromthe mitten when desired.

Another object is to avoid sha ing of the mitten itself for holding itin place on the hand and for holding the soap in place in the mitten.

Another object is the provision of a mitten which will be held snugly inplace on difierent size hands and in which the soap will be' heldagainst escape equally as well on a hand of one size as on a hand ofanother size.

Another object is the provision'of a simple and inexpensive mitten thatmay be simply and inexpensively made.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a view of the piece of material from which the mitten ismade;

Figs. 2 and 3 show successive steps in finishing the mitten; v

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the finished mitten on the hand with aportion of the mitten broken away to show the arrangement of the soapinside; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4. V y

In the drawings 5 designates the piece of cloth from which the mitten ismade. It is preferably Turkish toweling material comprising tufted orpile fabric and comprises two halves 6 and 7 the outer ends of which aresimilarly rounded or curved at 8 and 9 to conform to the general contourof the outer ends of the fingers of the hand. The piece of material 5has a straight continuous wrist edge 10 and side edges 11 and 12substantially straight and parallel with each other and substantiallynormal to edge 10.

One half of iece 5-is folded back upon long a line of fold 14 betweenand substantially arallel to edges Hand 12 and the two halires arestitched together at 15 along side edges 11 and 12, outer edges 8 and 9and line of fold 14 except for a small unsti-tched portion along edges11 and 12 which provides a thumb opening 16. The mitten is then turnedinside out and stitched again along dotted lines 17 to give strength andappearance, tape or other suitable finishing material 18 having beenstitched along the thumb opening 16 to finish sameand pretate theentering of the hand into the mit for washing or bathing purposes, andwill also deflect the soapy water outward at the wrist and prevent thesame running down or up the arm, or reaching the sleeve of a arment,when so used. Band 21 also holds the bar or cake of soap 23 in placewithin the mitten, the soap being inserted and removed through the wristopening as desired- The stitching 17 extends from the thumb opening 16on one side around and down to wrist portion 22 on the other side, theopposite edges of the wrist portion of the mitten being closed bystitching 15 only. A loop or strap 25 is preferably secured to andextends from the wrist edge of the mitten for hanging same up when notin use. Elastic band 21 causes a gathering of the material about thewrist to hold the wrist portion snugly thereabout and the elasticity ofsaid band permits convenient insertion of the hand into and removal fromthe mitten and convenient insertion and removal of the soap with themitten in place on the hand although the soap may be inserted before thehand if desired.

Formation of the entire mitten of Turkish toweling material and thethumb opening and finger receiving arrangement permits use of the mittenequally as well on either hand with side 6 or 7 providing a wipingsurface which will be soft and non irritable to the skin and which willat the same time frictionally engage the skin sufficiently to loosen andremove foreign matter therefrom and the entire mitten will absorbsuflicient Water for washing or bathing purposes. The parallelarrangement of edges 11 and 12 minimizes the amount of material wastedin cutting the mitten and this with the elastic band .arrangement makesshaping of the mitten in cutting unnecessary. The thumb is free for usewhen the mitten is in place and the cake or bar of soap may bepositioned behind the entire wiping surface of each side of the mittenas distinguished from mittens having thumb portions which preventpositioning of the soap behind the entire wiping surface.

I claim:

A wash mitten comprising a single piece of material having a pile fabricand comprising two halves provided with side edges, a common wrist edgeand convex ends, the side edges being substantially parallel to eachother and substantially normal to the Wrist edge and said convex endsconforming to the general contour of the outer ends of the fingers, saidpiece of material being folded upon itself on a line of foldsubstantially centrally between and parallel with said side edges, theouter ends and side edges being stitched tofgether and the adjacentportions thereof olded over the seam and again stitched togetherinwardly of said first stitching thus enclosing the free outer and sideedges of the fabric, said first stitching being interrupted along theside edges of the thumb opening through which the thumb is adapted toproject when the mitten is placed upon the hand, and said last stitchingterminating short of the thumb opening and wrist edge,

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 4th day ofJanuary, 1924.

CONRAD L. MAR-TENS.

